Tampa Bay Lightning first Presidents Trophy winners to be swept in first round

[tenken00]

Remember when fans of teams that were on the bubble were trying really hard to decide whether it was worth making it in just to be swept by Tampa?

 

[CJZizzari]

 

[MasterDecoy]

HISTORIC SEASON!

 

[maskingagent]

This clearly shows the difference of regular season shinny vs playoff hockey. If the league wants to maintain the speed and skill throughout the playoffs, they would have to make the league non contact starting from amateur ranks, (A, AA, AAA , OHL, AHL and NHL) and see if that works ? The rate this league is going, I foresee this in another 20 years. I'm glad I won't be around to witness it.

 

[ElysiumAB]

Which they never recovered from, despite having such a dominant roster. That's a major choke job.

That was a choke job for the first game, then they just got beat three times.

In context with their regular season, sure I guess it's a choke. But I wouldn't consider it the biggest series choke, they were never even up a game.

Anyway, meaningless semantics really.

 

[burstnbloom]

2010 season, 2011 calendar year. Bruins up 3-0 in the series. Lost 5-4 in OT and the series in 7.

I don't know what you're talking about. The Bruins won the cup in 2011.

 

[Paddyjack]

2010 season, 2011 calendar year. Bruins up 3-0 in the series. Lost 5-4 in OT and the series in 7.

This was in the 2010 playoffs against Philly

 

[MattySnipes]

I still can't believe the Bolts are out! WOW!

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

It's definitely a surprise, but you can't forget that Columbus loaded up at the deadline. It's pretty rare for an 8th seed to load up like that, so TB wasn't playing a typical 8th seed.

 

[mtnet]

Generational choke job

 

[Mick Riddleton]

They have that dont you know who I am attitude that self destructed. Looked good on them, huge collapse, one of the worst ever. Took that pompous smile off Cooper and the whiny baby Kuch

 

[OttawaKing]

Hedman, Stralman.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

Most regular season wins ever too.

It’s unquestionably the biggest choke job ever. Maybe in sports.

 

[DanM]

When the Leafs blew that 4-1 lead, I became so detached from hockey in the summer. Never felt worse as a fan. Gotta imagine TBL fans are feeling pretty similar.

That was a bad one..

I would say Boston blowing a 3-0 lead against Philly was the biggest I have seen. However, they won the cup the very next year I believe lol

 

[DanM]

Hedman, Stralman.

Which is fine, they were a loss, but when you read the Tampa boards, they fans were like "let them heal, this round is in the bag" or "we don't need them, we will take care of business this round" or "16 wins" or "Kucherov should break the playoff points record"

I think Tampa fans really should have been more humble, but I also think they will be back over and over, this will be a big learning experience.

 

[Lorty]

Honestly, I don't consider it a "historic choke". It's utterly disappointing, but I believe Tampa Bay was never meant to be an elite playoff team to begin with. They also got dominated for all 12 periods except for the first one, so it's not like they pulled a 3-0 lead like San Jose and choked all the way down. CBJ was the better team the whole time, hands down.

Also, at this point in the NHL, we should know that regular season games are meaningless. Grit and heart mixed with a good amount of skills is what wins playoff games. The league has way too much parity nowadays to predict the outcome of a series, so when grit and heart comes into play, anyone can win. Sure, a first round sweep against the best team of the league never happened before, but 25+ years ago the difference between the "#1 seed" and the "#8 seed" was massive. It's historic, but at the same time, this scenario can happen only once a year so the odds are low to begin with.

Columbus stacked their team at the deadline with a bunch of players, including Duchene who clearly had something to prove in the playoffs. They also played fantastic hockey at the end of the season. They didn't play like a 8th seed AT ALL. Plus, it wasn't a typical 8th seed, they finished with 98 points on a stacked metro division.

Panarin, Duchene, Dubois, Atkinson, Jones, Werenski, Bobrovsky and tons of good depth players and key veterans. It was a legit good team.

Tampa, on the other hand, regressed a lot by losing Hedman at the end of the season. We're talking about a legit #1D here, not a random #2D. Stamkos and Kucherov are also well known underperformers in the playoffs, so them being invisible wasn't even that surprising.

Another important factor : Powerplays. Stamkos, Kucherov and Point combined for 54 powerplay goals this season. That was part of the team's identity, and a big reason why they finished with that many wins. During this series though, they pretty much had no powerplay opportunities against the second-least punished team of the league.

 

[Mr Hockey]

I predicted either Tampa or the team that beats Tampa wins the Cup, let us see

 

[North Cole]

I don't know what you're talking about. The Bruins won the cup in 2011.

This was in the 2010 playoffs against Philly

Yes, sorry 2009 season, 2010 calendar year was the loss against the flyers. I don't know where he got the double 3-0 from. They weren't up 3-0 in the final game. I think it was 1-1 after the first, but I could be wrong.

 

[GetFocht]

This is absolutely hilarious.

Lost all respect for Jon Cooper with his obnoxious fist pump to Paquette after conducting a dirty play.

 

[illpucks]

Honestly, I don't consider it a "historic choke". It's utterly disappointing, but I believe Tampa Bay was never meant to be an elite playoff team to begin with. They also got dominated for all 12 periods except for the first one, so it's not like they pulled a 3-0 lead like San Jose and choked all the way down. CBJ was the better team the whole time, hands down.

Also, at this point in the NHL, we should know that regular season games are meaningless. Grit and heart mixed with a good amount of skills is what wins playoff games. The league has way too much parity nowadays to predict the outcome of a series, so when grit and heart comes into play, anyone can win. Sure, a first round sweep against the best team of the league never happened before, but 25+ years ago the difference between the "#1 seed" and the "#8 seed" was massive. It's historic, but at the same time, this scenario can happen only once a year so the odds are low to begin with.

Columbus stacked their team at the deadline with a bunch of players, including Duchene who clearly had something to prove in the playoffs. They also played fantastic hockey at the end of the season. They didn't play like a 8th seed AT ALL. Plus, it wasn't a typical 8th seed, they finished with 98 points on a stacked metro division.

Panarin, Duchene, Dubois, Atkinson, Jones, Werenski, Bobrovsky and tons of good depth players and key veterans. It was a legit good team.

Tampa, on the other hand, regressed a lot by losing Hedman at the end of the season. We're talking about a legit #1D here, not a random #2D. Stamkos and Kucherov are also well known underperformers in the playoffs, so them being invisible wasn't even that surprising.

Another important factor : Powerplays. Stamkos, Kucherov and Point combined for 54 powerplay goals this season. That was part of the team's identity, and a big reason why they finished with that many wins. During this series though, they pretty much had no powerplay opportunities against the second-least punished team of the league.

62 wins
126 point player, 1.6+ ppg player
0-4, 0.66ppg player

 

[Razz]

I'll just leave this here. Urinating Tree to the rescue:

 

[T REX]

If your fans Vote on their boards that they want their own team to be swept, then good riddance. That’s what they get

That was a poorly written poll. I voted wrong because I thought it said something else. I was unable to switch my vote. The person starting thread even admitted it was poorly worded.

 

[Got One Cup]

If this doesn’t show you the regular season means jack squat when the playoffs start then nothing will.

 

[SUBdrewgANS]

So many records broken by the TBL this year

 

[Viqsi]

Can the Lightning be the first 16-0 playoff team?

That does seem a little absurd. I mean, going undefeated for 16 games in a row is difficult, to say the least...






(No, of course it's not going to happen. But seriously, considering that that particular streak started against Tampa Bay, it fit too well to not make the reference.)